Ohio announces who shares in $11.5M road-salt settlement

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will announce the distribution of more than $11-million from a rock salt settlement Thursday morning.

The 2012 lawsuit, against Cargill Inc. and Morton Salt Inc., alleged the companies conspired to divide up the Ohio rock salt market and agreed not to compete with each other for public bids during a period ending in 2010. “Salt prices, traditionally were in the $50 per ton range and then they jumped up to right around $90 per ton, statewide average right around $90 per ton, so of course it really hurt local governments”, says Washington County Engineer, Roger Wright.

A list of entities receiving claim checks from the rock salt settlement is available here. Neither admitted wrongdoing in the settlement. It is also spending about $100,000 to construct another salt barn at the Laybourne Road facility to store up to 15,000 tons of salt. He wasn’t sure how the money was going to be divided up, he added.

Probably more important than the refund, he said, is the precedent that price gouging will not be tolerated.

“In the big picture, it will help a few”, Burr said.

There are dozens of Miami Valley cities and agencies that made a claim.

Scott Tadych, director of public works and utilities for the City of Middletown, said its $32,738 check will be deposited into the auto and gas tax fund account and be used to purchase salt and asphalt.

In 2009-10, Champaign County spent about $142,800 on about 2,100 tons. Additional payments were allotted to the state’s largest single rock salt purchaser: $1.7 million to the Ohio Department of Transportation; $173,435 to the Ohio Turnpike Commission; and, as required by law, the state’s antitrust fund. Since 1997, Morton and Cargill have been the only two companies mining and selling commercial rock salt in Ohio.